Shortlist announced for Scottish pamphlet poetry award

The National Library of Scotland has announced the shortlist for
the 2009 Callum Macdonald
Memorial Award (CMMA) for poetry pamphlet publishing in
Scotland. The shortlisted entries are:

'The Flood' by Alistair McDonald, published in
Dunoon by Classical Head Press

'Sky Blue Notebook from the Pyrenees' by Jayne
Wilding, published in Dunbar by Calder Wood Press

'Slaughtering Beetroot' by Angela McSeveney,
published in Edinburgh by Mariscat Press

'Hinkum Clinkum' by Sheena Blackhall,
published in Aberdeen by Malfranteaux Concepts

'Hope/Truth' by Priscilla Chueng-Nainby,
published in Edinburgh by Lemongrass Hut

'Ring O'Sangs' by Mary Johnston, published in
Bonnyrigg by Poetry Monthly

'Postcards from the Hedge' by Hugh McMillan,
published in Dumfries by Roncadora Press.

The winner will be announced at a ceremony at the National
Library of Scotland in Edinburgh on Friday 29 May at 6pm. All of
the entries will be on display at the event, where the winner
stands to receive £750 in prize money and custody of the Callum
Macdonald Memorial Quaich.

Commenting on the shortlist, judge Tessa Ransford OBE said:

'The 2009 award saw 38 entries of great variety, producing
creative ways of dealing with the lighter and darker sides of life.
We were delighted and impressed and would like to congratulate all
the entrants for their well-made and well-written pamphlets. We
would have liked to choose many more winners from such an
array.

The shortlist demonstrates the variety of pamphlets entered. We
have everything from the handmade to the more professionally
produced, Scottish Arts Council-funded productions. There are a set
of translations from German into Scots, a Chinese-inspired
collection, and one of Scots rhymes for children.'

The Callum Macdonald
Memorial Award is given in recognition of publishing skill and
effort in the field of poetry pamphlets. The award was created by
the Library in memory of Scottish literary publisher Callum
Macdonald, and is administered in association with Tessa Ransford,
former Director of the Scottish Poetry Library and Callum
Macdonald's widow. All Scottish publishers of poetry in pamphlet
form are eligible to apply. The award is supported by the Michael
Marks Charitable Trust.

The award also aims to encourage the preservation of printed
material of this kind and all entries submitted are taken into the
collections of the National Library of Scotland. As a result the
Library currently holds nearly 300 of the finest contemporary
Scottish poetry pamphlets in its collections. You can find out more
about pamphlet poetry on the Scottish Pamphlet Poetry website.